'Under Rohit Sharma's leadership...' - Kapil Dev reacts with 'wonderful' statement after India qualify for T20 WC final

Legendary Kapil Dev has heaped praise on Team India and their captain Rohit Sharma after they qualified for the final of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

India, on Thursday (June 27), thrashed defending champions England by 68 runs to book their place in the final of the T20 World Cup for the third time and first time since 2014. Despite losing the toss, India thoroughly outplayed England in all the departments.

Asked to bat first, India were off to a shaky start as struggling Virat Kohli (9) and Rishabh Pant (4) departed cheaply. However, captain Rohit Sharma came up with his second consecutive fifty in the tournament to bail his team out of trouble. Rohit scored 57 runs and shared a 73-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav (47) for the third wicket.

India eventually finished their innings on 171 for 7. In reply, England were bowled out for just 103 runs. The Jos Buttler-led side never really looked in contention to chase down the big total on the tough pitch. For India, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav picked up 3 wickets each while Jasprit Bumrah took 2 wickets.

With India continuing their domination in the competition, Kapil Dev called their qualification to the final 'wonderful' and credited all the players for the journey so far. The former India skipper also said that India have done well under the captaincy of Rohit.

"It's wonderful. If anybody reaches in finals you just say how wonderfully they played. Not one name but the entire team. I always believe in a team. They have done wonderfully well, under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, the team has done extremely well," Kapil Dev told ANI.

A historic second awaits Team India:

Team India will be taking on South Africa in the final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday (June 29). India have qualified for the final of the T20 World Cup for the third time while South Africa have done it for the very first time.

The Indian team will have the opportunity to create history in the final. They can become the first-ever Asian team and third overall after West Indies and England to win the T20 World Cup twice. India have not won the T20 World Cup since MS Dhoni guided them to triumph way back in 2007. India have also not won any ICC trophy since 2013 and will be desperate to win the upcoming game.